Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to board games generally and, more particularly, to a game of skill played on a board adorned with the likeness of a golf hole.
Discussion of the Prior Art
A number of games have golf as a theme, the likeness of one or more golf holes printed on a playing board and various rules of play. In one approach, exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,065 (White), playing pieces are moved from a teeing area to a green and into a cup in response to instructions carried on the various faces of die selected and rolled by the players. In another format exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,260 (Sain) playing markers are directed by a combination of dice and spinner instructions across a fairway and into a golf cup. In both of these types of golf games the number of turns required to successfully move the marker from tee to cup is treated as the number of strokes required to play the hole. U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,912 (Kindrick et al) shows a variation on the card game of cribbage adapted to be played on a board decorated with golf course indicia and having detours representing hazards that lengthen the path of the player.
Another class of games, exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,004 (Schmitt), is played on a board having a matrix arrangement of pegholes and correspondingly sized pegs. Pegs are inserted into the pegholes such that at least one peghole is left open. Play commences by jumping one peg over another to land at an open peghole and removing the jumped peg from the board as is done in checkers. The game concludes when no more jumps can be made and the objective is generally to remove as many pegs as possible and in some instances to have a remaining last peg end up in a particular peghole.
None of these games provide the players with strategic choice-making challenges while simultaneously providing a golfing theme in a simple yet flexible format.